“But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint” (Isa 40:31).
“Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s” (Psa 103:5).
Does an older eagle beat down his beak and then wait for it to grow back, and so “renew its youth”?
Most definitely not. The website www.baldeagleinfo.com says: “The PowerPoint presentation circulating the Internet is a myth and metaphor intended to encourage and strengthen people. Eagles do not go into seclusion, pluck out their feathers, beak and talons, and then after five months emerge renewed. It’s a myth! An eagle’s beak and talons grow continuously, because they are made of keratin, the same substance as our hair and fingernails. Eagles molt in patches, taking almost half a year to replace feathers, starting with the head and working downward. Not all feathers are replaced in a given molt. An eagle without feathers, talons, and a beak would die of starvation and exposure.”
Despite its proliferation on evangelical websites, this pleasant story is simply not true. The writings of the rabbis and early church “fathers” overflow with fables and myths about the supernatural recuperative powers of the eagle. It is natural that such would develop, because in earlier days eagles could be observed only at long range. However, as W. M. Thomson writes on just this topic: “It is not necessary to press every poetical figure into strict prosaic accuracy… To what fact… does the Psalmist refer? Perhaps merely to his coming forth in a fresh costume, and in youthful beauty after the molting season; or it may refer to the fact that this royal bird is long-lived, and retains his vigor to extreme old age” (The Land and the Book).
It is quite reasonable, instead of actually believing an unscientific myth, to read this verse (and Isa 40:31) as ‘renewed so as to be like the eagle’, that is, to have a buoyant, tireless strength, as in the eagle-based Cherubim of Glory (Isa 6:2). Isaiah 40:31, which is quite similar in expression to Psalm 103:5, reads: “Those who… renew their strength… will soar on wings like eagles” (RSV).
For further information see the U.S. Government website, “Ask a Scientist”, www. Newton.dep.anl.gov: “Question: Do older eagles beat their old worn-down beaks off on a rock and then grow a brand new one? Answer: No, I have no idea where this notion started. I’ve been asked several times. It is not possible for an eagle to completely lose its beak and grow a new one.”
The National Geographic also reported, in May 5, 2008, that a bald eagle underwent surgery to replace a beak lost to a bullet. It was rescued from an Alaskan landfill, where it was scrounging for food but slowly starving without a beak. With its artificial beak, it should live to an old age, but will have to be cared for in confinement, since its new beak will not be strong enough to cut and tear flesh.
The widely-circulated story of the eagle deliberately destroying its old beak and then growing a new one simply has no basis in fact. It is a modern-day fairy tale, sometimes accompanied by beautiful pictures, and a pleasant, inspirational thought or two. One cannot find fault with the photographs or the uplifting sentiments, but scientific observation simply does not support the assertions.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One